First Company From Home

We had our first visitors from the States pass through BRIEFLY on Monday. We had a really nice time and were blessed by their visit! It was interesting explaining to my new friends here that I didn't really know any of the three staying with us but that we'd get along just fine!

These picture are all a bit out of order according to our day so I apologize. I'm still not good at remembering to upload the pictures in the correct order so that it all makes sense:)

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Rita Knobloch, Bruce Banwart, Kenton, Ryan, Becky, Kaitlyn, Carol Martin, Cheryl Hermann, and Ethan.

Ethan and his daddy at Clark Quay
Carol, Kenton, Rita, Cheryl, Ryan, and Ethan at supper. We ate at Jumbo Seafood (Asian style seafood) at Riverside Point in Clark Quay along the Singapore River. We ate outside which is always much preferred when you have three noisy kids along. We each ordered a dish which was placed on the lazy Susan in the middle of the table and we all sampled everything.
Along the river on one side are nice sit down restaurants. On the other side is a type of hawker's center - the restaurants line the river for quite a way and are all very brightly lit. When Ryan and I made the mistake of walking by them in September we had to say, "No thanks, already ate" a million times until we got to the end of them. The hostesses will walk beside you for the length of their stall holding an open menu trying you to eat their food.
Bruce and Kenton (with his Calvin smile) on the bum boat ride that we took along the Singapore River. It gives you the history of the area and a little history of Singapore as you ride along.
Kaitlyn, Carol, and Rita

Cheryl, Carol, Rita, and I all went to Little India first and than walked to Arab Street. I stopped to ask for directions several times as it seems each set of directions only takes you a few blocks before you think, "Now where" The above picture is of a shop selling hand woven baskets where I may or may not have bought a few recently (in case Ryan reads this:)
Here is a view of what the walk outside the shops along Arab street looks like.
I finally was able to go into the courtyard in the above picture and look through all the shops there. I have been to Arab Street three times and this was the first time I made it all the way to these shops in time to have a look! What I found was an interesting array of items - from Singapore souvenirs, to fabric, to musical instruments from different parts of Asia.
This little shop had several tables set up out from with musical instruments from Malaysia.
Clark Quay before supper

These are some of the most colorful HDB housing flats I have seen yet! I thought that they were pretty:) HDB housing is government housing that is available only to Singaporeans and is affordable based on what you make per year. They are generally safe (they are not rentals) and a lot of wet markets and hawkers stalls are situated underneath these buildings on the ground floor.
We stopped to eat nan - an Indian bread - along our walk from Little India to Arab Street. Ethan enjoyed sitting by himself on the stool:)
One of the first shops we visited on Arab Street was owned by this man - Kadihr. We spent quite a bit of time in their talking to him after he found out one among us was a dental hygienist! We didn't mind the break from the heat and off our feet and Ethan made another friend - surprise, surprise! This man is a second generation Singaporean (with Indian background.)
Arab Street is lined with fabric stores carrying the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen! They also will make a dress for you at these shops - usually any dress you walk in there wanting made they will do. They drape some of the fabrics on models in the fashions that Arab women would wear to give you an idea of what a dress would look like.
Here are the fronts of some of the dresses.

This is the front of Tekka Centre which is the main Little India wet market area. Produce is incredibly cheap here and most locals will make one trip a day or a week here to buy most of what they need. The second floor is made up of dress shop after dress shop.
Here is a sampling of ready made dresses that you can choose from! All very bright fabrics and patterns.

From the second floor you can view the wet market below - the meat area which smells HORRIBLE! I took a picture of a stall selling chicken - not sure I would want to buy my meat this way but I've met several people who do and live to tell about it!
If you double click on this picture to view it larger you will see the laundry poles hanging off the side of the building. This is a common site on the HDB housing flats as most don't have a good area to hang laundry and the locals don't use dryers - electricity is just too expensive and no one wants the extra heat. Just us expats:)

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Like I said before we had a wonderful time with our guest and look forward to when more can come to visit. I kept commenting on how nice it was to actually get to show someone around our world here!

I figured out today that we have 5 weeks left before our visit home this summer - I think that we are all ready to come back and fill up on American things before coming back for another round!

I will be posting a few more updates in the next couple of days. I was able to go on a field trip with Kaitlyn today and took two pictures of that before my battery died - you would think I would remember to just charge it after each use...

Yesterday I finally finished cleaning out and organizing Kaitlyn's room - it feels SO nice to get that done. My room is next and Kenton's is still waiting for some furniture to be moved out and some shelves to be moved in before his room will be done! The office still needs some work as well but that has to wait on Kenton's room. The kitchen, living room, and bathrooms are done. We have settled in well - it's hard to believe that we have been here four full months already and are starting on our fifth! May will go fast with end of the year activities and getting ready for the trip home.